Stereoscopic visual displays, also called three-dimensional (3D) displays, are rapidly becoming ubiquitous. These devices are commonly used for viewing 3D movies or for gaming applications. Use of stereoscopic technology may create realistic games or scenery by providing depth to objects, through presenting a unique view to each eye of a viewer, in a way approaching a real life viewer experience. In polarization technology 3D TV, linear polarized and circularly polarized lights are used to separate two complementary views. According to other 3D vision methods, left and right images are displayed alternatively and shutter glasses are used to separate the two views.
Stereoscopic imaging requires simultaneous display of two complementary images, emitted at distinct polarizations; viewers wear special glasses having distinct filters on the left and right sides to ensure that each eye perceives a distinct one of the complementary images. A conventional manner of showing the two complementary images is to split the viewing area of a display, line by line, so that for example, even lines show a left image and odd lines show a right image. Of course, a resulting image resolution is only half of a full resolution achievable in two-dimensional (2D) mode, with the same display.
Conventionally, emission of the two complementary images at distinct polarizations is obtained by adding a Horizontal Patterned Retarder Layer in front of a liquid crystal display (LCD). The LCD produces alternating left and right lines and the filter then applies alternating polarization to the left and right lines. This structure introduces significant crosstalk between the left and right images, perceived with much emphasis by viewers located outside of a narrow vertical angular range relative to the display.
Therefore, there is a need for method and devices for displaying 3D images of good resolution while reducing crosstalk effects that may be perceived by a user wearing passive polarized glasses.